I am sure there is a scientific explanation to it but I really don’t know the answer. (system)
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The earth is round as in a 3D spherical shape.
But the water doesn’t bend - is it the gravity that keeps the water on the earth’s surface in a bent shape?
The earth is not actually perfectly round, it's not even a perfect anything....
If you had a glass of water with some oil in it the oil floats over the water because it has less mass per volume. If you could somehow magically take this glass to the center of the earth the water would turn into a sphere and the oil would evenly distribute in a layer on top of it.
That pretty much is how the earth is composed, plenty of gold and other metals at the core because they have the highest mass. Gases with the lighter mass make up the atmosphere. The distribution is not perfect, for example gold, iron and other metals are found in the crust however that is due to volcanic and other processes.
The earth is round as in a 3D spherical shape.
But the water doesn’t bend - is it the gravity that keeps the water on the earth’s surface in a bent shape?
Um, a molecule of water is quite small, especially in relation to the earth, why would it need to bend?
An ocean is a mass of molecules (to be correct, it is a mass of ions and anions) which have an affinity for each other. So the mass does indeed "bend", but none of the individual molecules do. Think about a bunch of peas filling a large bowl. No pea is required to bend in order to conform to the curved surface of the bowl, because the pea is much smaller than the bowl.
But of course neither an ocean bed or a river bed is smooth, so to a water molecule, the whole thing "looks" like an unimaginably enormous and chaotic mountain/valley system. But a molecule doesn't need to bend to fit the surface, and it is naturally attracted to other water molecules, so the individual molecules cohere as a mass.
Gravity does indeed affect water, just as it affects everything else on earth, but the attraction that water molecules have for each other is more important than gravity in holding a mass of water molecules together.
The earth is round as in a 3D spherical shape.
But the water doesn’t bend - is it the gravity that keeps the water on the earth’s surface in a bent shape?
If you mean the surface of the water in the oceans conforming to the more or less spherical shape of the globe, then yes. Gravity causes that.
And in a pre-emptive strike on flat earthers, if the earth were flat instead, lighthouses would have worked at ground level, and on a clear day people in Florida could have seen the Alps in europe.
The earth is round as in a 3D spherical shape.
But the water doesn’t bend - is it the gravity that keeps the water on the earth’s surface in a bent shape?
Yes. It’s gravity. Water does a much better job following gravity. This is why lakes tend to match the curvature of the Earth while rock can form mountains and valleys.
The water on the surface actually bulges a bit because of the gravity of the moon (and to a lesser extent the sun). As the earth and moon move,this bulge tends to follow the moon. This is what causes periodic tides.
Yes. It’s gravity. Water does a much better job following gravity. This is why lakes tend to match the curvature of the Earth while rock can form mountains and valleys.
The water on the surface actually bulges a bit because of the gravity of the moon (and to a lesser extent the sun). As the earth and moon move,this bulge tends to follow the moon. This is what causes periodic tides.
The earth is not actually perfectly round, it's not even a perfect anything....
If you had a glass of water with some oil in it the oil floats over the water because it has less mass per volume. If you could somehow magically take this glass to the center of the earth the water would turn into a sphere and the oil would evenly distribute in a layer on top of it.
That pretty much is how the earth is composed, plenty of gold and other metals at the core because they have the highest mass. Gases with the lighter mass make up the atmosphere. The distribution is not perfect, for example gold, iron and other metals are found in the crust however that is due to volcanic and other processes.
No, the earff is a spear. It's round in one dimention but 3D it's a spear.
The diameter at the equator is greater than the diameter at the poles.
I kinda like the Brit definition that the Earth has gone pear shaped.
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Gases with the lighter mass make up the atmosphere. The distribution is not perfect, for example gold, iron and other metals are found in the crust however that is due to volcanic and other processes.
